CHICAGO’S LITERARY OUTLAWS RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS. CRIMINAL CLASS PRESS LAUNCHES THE CRIMINAL CLASS REVIEW 4.1, THE HISTORICAL ISSUE ON MAY 1st--FEATURING CONVERSATION WITH JONATHAN EIG, AUTHOR OF LUCKIEST MAN, OPENING DAY, AND HIS NEW RELEASE: GET CAPONE.

THE CHICAGO WAY literary series hosts the release of CRIMINAL CLASS REVIEW 4.1 on SUNDAY, MAY 1st at THE HIDDEN SHAMROCK (2723 N. Halsted St.) CRIMINAL CLASS PRESS kicks off spring at Lincoln Park’s oldest Irish pub with this year’s most putrid prose.

CRIMINAL CLASS PRESS has had a wild year, following their East Coast Tour and events with Naked Girls Reading, and already they’re releasing issue 4.1, chocked full of historical fiction with decadence from decades past.

THE HIDDEN SHAMROCK, at 2723 N. Halsted St, is Lincoln Park’s oldest Irish Pub and has gone through several transformations to become what it is now: a sanctuary for Chicago’s hardest and the city’s rugged history. The show starts at 7:00, for an evening of hard-luck literature in Chicago’s historical home of rough-housing and carousing.

The evening will feature authors ERIC MAY, PATRICIA ANNE MCNAIR, and TOM POPP. JONATHAN EIG will be having an open conversation about his new book, GET CAPONE, and Chicago’s criminal history, along with crime-themed games and prizes.

“2011 will be a very busy time for us as the press. We have much to complete and all I can say is I'm very grateful for the staff and friends we’ve made along the way. Business never stops but we keep pushing. We're solid.”-Kevin Whiteley, Editor of Criminal Class Press

The following authors have been confirmed for the Hidden Shamrock reading:

Host, Julia Borcherts, regular contributor to ChicagoTribune/Metromix/RedEye, Time Out Chicago and other publications. She is the co-founder of Reading Under the Influence.

Patricia Ann McNair, author of the upcoming short story collection, The Temple of Air. She has been published in American Fiction: Best Unpublished Short Stories by Emerging Writers, Other Voices, F Magazine, River Teeth, Fourth Genre, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, and Air Canada’s en Route magazine. She is also published in The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction edited by Dinty Moore, and is a regular contributor to Elks Magazine.

Eric May, published in such literary anthologies as Fish Stories: Collective I, Sport Literate, Angels in My Oven, and F Magazine. May is Associate Faculty member at the Stonecoast Writers' Conference in Maine, and a past Board of Judges member for the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). He is currently at work on a novel and a memoir.

Tom Popp, Managing Editor of F Magazine, he was a winner in the Red Sky Books contest, "Writing About the Teaching Experience." His winning story, "A Hasty Conclusion," appeared in theanthology, Pass/Fail.

Jeff Kerr's work has appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Now and Then, Hardboiled, Plots with Guns, Hardluck Stories and others. He has dual citizenship in Chicago and the Appalachian mountains of the Kentucky and Virginia border. He is currently working on two novels and several screenplays. He has worked as a factory worker, parked cars at a strip club, security guard, encyclopedia salesman, medical guinea pig among other things to raise a dollar. He can be reached at JeffKerr1965@gmail.com.

Gary Johnson teaches in the fiction writing graduate program at Columbia College Chicago and produces for public radio.

Gene Gregorits is the founder and former publisher of Sex & Guts Magazine, an independent arts and culture journal that ran from 1997 to 2004. His subcultural essays and interviews were collected in the book Midnight Mavericks (FAB Press, 2007), while his prose writing has appeared in numerous literary anthologies, including Chelsea Hotel Manhattan, Antique Children, and Paraphilia. He currently lives in Baltimore.

Jonathan Eig, author of two widely hailed New York Times best sellers: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season, has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, and NPR, and lectures around the country. He lives in Chicago with his wife and children. His new book, Get Capone, clears all the myths and reveals the secrets of gangster, Al Capone.